The King’s Speech wins ensemble prize at Santa Barbara Film Festival

Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter and their castmates will be honoured at the 26th annual bash in California next week (31Jan11).

The film, which also features performances by Guy Pearce, Derek Jacobi and Claire Bloom, is expected to be among the 10 movies nominated for a Best Picture Oscar when the nods are announced on Tuesday morning (25Jan11).

Firth was honoured with the festival’s Outstanding Performance of the Year award last year (10) for his work in A Single Man. Rush will be honoured separately at the festival with the Montecito Award.